|
Selfmate
A selfmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves against their will. Selfmates were once known as sui-mates. Example The problem shown is a relatively simple example. It is a selfmate in two by Wolfgang Pauly from ''The Theory of Pawn Promotion'', 1912: White moves first and compels Black to deliver checkmate on or before Black's second move. If White can leave Black with no option but to play Bxg2#, the problem is solved. * White might try moving the bishop, but this is no good, as it will allow Black to play a non-capturing bishop move himself, delaying the mate beyond move two; * moving the knight allows the king to move; * 1.e6 allows 1...exf6 and 2...f5; * 1.f7 or 1.fxe7 allows 1...Kxg7; * 1.g8=Q or 1.g8=R are no good after 1...Bxg2+ 2.Q/Rxg2; * 1.g8=N# checkmates Black, which is entirely wrong; * 1.g8=B is also no good, since after 1...exf6 2.exf6 Bxg2+ the bishop can interpose with 3.Bd5. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helpmate
A helpmate is a type of chess problem in which both sides cooperate in order to achieve the goal of checkmating Black. In a helpmate in ''n'' moves, Black moves first, then White, each side moving ''n'' times, to culminate in White's ''nth'' move checkmating Black. (In a helpmate in 2 for example, sometimes abbreviated ''h#2'', the solution consists of a Black move, a White move, a second Black move, then a second White move, giving checkmate.) Although the two sides cooperate, all moves must be legal according to the rules of chess. The example problem illustrated is a helpmate in 8 (or ''h#8'') by Z. Maslar, published in ''Die Schwalbe'' in 1981. The solution is (''recall that in helpmate solutions, Black's move is given first''): :1. Kf3 Kd3 2. Bb3 Kc3 3. Ke4+ Kd2 4. Kd4 Ke2 5. Kc3 Nb4 6. Kb2 Kd2 7. Ka1 Kc1 8. Ba2 Nc2 History The first helpmate problem was by the German chess master Max Lange, published in ''Deutsche Schachzeitung'', December 1854. The problem had Whit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess Problem
A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by the composer using chess pieces on a chess board, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White is to move first, and checkmate Black in two moves against any possible defence. A chess problem fundamentally differs from over-the-board play in that the latter involves a struggle between black and white, whereas the former involves a competition between the composer and the solver. Most positions which occur in a chess problem are 'unrealistic' in the sense that they are very unlikely to occur in over-the-board play. There is a good deal of specialized jargon used in connection with chess problems; see glossary of chess problems for a list. Definition The term "chess problem" is not sharply defined: there is no clear demarcation between chess compositions on the one hand and puzzles or tactical exercises on the other. In practice, however, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White And Black In Chess
In chess, the player who moves first is called White and the player who moves second is called Black. Their pieces are the white pieces and the black pieces. The pieces are often not literally white and black, but some other colors, usually a light color and a dark color. The 64 squares of the chessboard, which is colored in a checkered pattern, are likewise the "white squares" or "light squares", and "black squares" or "dark squares"; they are usually of contrasting light and dark color rather than literally white and black. For example, the squares on vinyl boards may be off-white ("buff") and green, while those on wood boards are often light brown and dark brown. white: 1. There are 16 light-colored pieces and 32 squares called white. 2. When capitalized, the word refers to the player of the white pieces. An entry in the ''Glossary of terms in the Laws of Chess'' at the end of the current FIDE laws appears for black, too. In old chess writings, the sides are often called Red ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Checkmate
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is never actually captured—the player loses as soon as the player's king is checkmated. In formal games, it is usually considered good etiquette to resign an inevitably lost game before being checkmated. If a player is not in check but has no legal move, then it is '' stalemate'', and the game immediately ends in a draw. A checkmating move is recorded in algebraic notation using the hash symbol "#", for example: 34.Qg3#. Examples A checkmate may occur in as few as two moves on one side with all of the pieces still on the board (as in Fool's mate, in the opening phase of the game), in a middlegame position (as in the 1956 game called the Game of the Century between Donald Byrne and Bobby Fischer), or after many moves with as few as t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolfgang Pauly
Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The name is a combination of the Old High German words ''wolf'', meaning "wolf", and ''gang'', meaning "path", "journey", "travel". Besides the regular "wolf", the first element also occurs in Old High German as the combining form "-olf". The earliest reference of the name being used was in the 8th century. The name was also attested as "Vulfgang" in the Reichenauer Verbrüderungsbuch in the 9th century. The earliest recorded famous bearer of the name was a tenth-century Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg. Due to the lack of conflict with the pagan reference in the name with Catholicism, it is likely a much more ancient name whose meaning had already been lost by the tenth century. Grimm (''Teutonic Mythology'' p. 1093) interpreted the name as that of a hero in front of whom walks the "wolf of victory". A Latin gloss by Arnold of St Emmeram interprets the name as ''Lupambulus''.E. Förs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reflexmate
The problem to the right is a fairly recent example, successful in the World Chess Composing Tournament despite only a single phase of play present. It is by Štefan Sovík and is a reflexmate in two moves. The key is 1.Qh5! and White threatens 2.Nbxc3, after which black is compelled by additional condition to mate by Rxc3#, with triple pin of Rc4, Bd4 and Ne4. There are three thematical variations with unpinnings of three pieces, but every time Black has to mate by switchback after selfpin of unpinned piece on c3: * 1...Qxa4 2.Rxc3 Qb5# (white move: rook unpinned by queen move selfpins) * 1...Rxc8 2.Bxc3 Rd8# (white move: bishop unpinned by rook move selfpins) * 1...Bxh5 2.Nexc3 Bg6# (white move: knight unpinned by bishop move selfpins) Another three variations result in unpinnings of white pieces, but the mates are not by switchback: * 1...Qd7 2.Rc6 Qxd4# (white move: unpinned rook unguards d4 and unpins queen) * 1...Nd5 2.Bxe3 Nf4# (white move: unpinned bishop opens d-file a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seriesmover
A ''seriesmover'' is a chess problem in which one side makes a series of legal moves without reply at the end of which the other side makes a single move, giving checkmate or yielding stalemate, depending on the precise stipulation. Checks cannot be given except on the last move of the series. There are various types of seriesmover: *Seriesmate: a directmate with White playing a series of moves without reply to checkmate Black (the seriesmover analogue to the directmate). *Serieshelpmate: a helpmate in which Black plays a series of moves without reply after which White plays one move to checkmate Black (the seriesmover analogue to the helpmate). *Seriesselfmate: a selfmate in which White plays a series of moves leading to a position in which Black is forced to give mate (the seriesmover analogue to the selfmate). *Seriesreflexmate: a reflexmate in which White plays a series of moves leading to a position in which Black can, and therefore must, give mate. Further, White is obliged ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zugzwang
Zugzwang (German for "compulsion to move", ) is a situation found in chess and other turn-based games wherein one player is put at a disadvantage because of their obligation to make a move; a player is said to be "in zugzwang" when any legal move will worsen their position. Although the term is used less precisely in games such as chess, it is used specifically in combinatorial game theory to denote a move that directly changes the outcome of the game from a win to a loss. Putting the opponent in zugzwang is a common way to help the superior side win a game, and in some cases it is necessary in order to make the win possible. The term ''zugzwang'' was used in German chess literature in 1858 or earlier, and the first known use of the term in English was by World Champion Emanuel Lasker in 1905. The concept of zugzwang was known to chess players many centuries before the term was coined, appearing in an endgame study published in 1604 by Alessandro Salvio, one of the first writers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.png "Click for more on -> Chess Problem")
